Community Books of Stone Mountain

EDIT: Thank you for your support! We are raising our goal to help cover the cost of painting and building bookshelves. Your support so far has helped us to pay our deposit, first month's rent, and purchase some of our starting inventory. Thank you again!

Hello friends,

I want to tell you about a new project that I think is worth your support and attention. In the autumn of 2022, Dr. Modibo Kadalie (my friend and an elder activist of the Civil Rights and Black Power generation) asked my opinion on opening a bookstore in metro-Atlanta. I told him that I thought it was a great idea. He asked me about possible locations and I immediately suggested Stone Mountain, Georgia.

I grew up on Hambrick road, which lies between Clarkston and Stone Mountain. This area of eastern DeKalb County is very dear to me and, in my opinion, is largely misunderstood.

Stone Mountain and nearby Sherman Town are largely working-class African and African-American communities, living under the shadow of the largest Confederate monument in the world. The community is also periodically invaded by white supremacists (who don't live in Stone Mountain, btw) and the town annually erupts in protests and anti-fascist direct action.

Yet the town of Stone Mountain does not have ANY book stores at the moment and Main Street always seems to be on the verge of becoming a ghost town, despite steady walking traffic. Moreover, for a town that is at the center of antiracist struggle in the US south, it has no radical community spaces.

Community Books of Stone Mountain (operated by myself, Dr. Kadalie, Dr. Janis Coombs-Reid, and Margo Fortune), will be a small used and new book store with the intention of bringing affordable radical books to our community and hosting small gatherings for community conversation. We are asking for donations of any kind to help get started.

Some folks have already donated used radical books from their collections, but we also need a little bit of cash to help cover some of the start-up costs. Your donations will help us establish ourselves as we begin this journey. We are signing the lease on our store this week and as word has spread, people are already asking how they can help.

The building where we're renting is very old. Money raised here will be used for painting, flooring, small repairs, furniture, inventory, and other start-up costs.

Please consider donating to this fundraiser and please share it with your friends and fellow lovers of radical books.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful consideration.

-Andrew Zonneveld